~ All things botanical in photos and words—in my West Seattle garden and elsewhere; seeing and creating art and assorted musings.

IF I COULD CREATE A GARDEN HERE…

I WOULD SURELY HAVE A FAIR SIZE learning curve. But what a challenge and fun it could be! A whole new way of gardening. We spent ten days on Hawaii, from Kona on the sunny, dry, leeward/west side, to Waimea along along the south slope of Kohala to the north and then to the lush, rainy, windward east side at Volcano, 29 miles from Hilo. Some vary distinct climate zones and vegetation.

On our way south along the east side we stopped for a couple of hours at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden a collection of more than 2,000 plant species. It was stunning, amazing, beautiful, tranquil, and lush with huge green leaves, tall, spreading trees and palms and curiously beautiful flowers. Nearly every plant had an identification tag; a big plus! A short pictorial tour is below.

A philodendron leaf

Heliconia champneiana ‘Splash’, one of dozens of heliconia varieties.

Fern fronds overhead

Heliconia longissma

Unknown, but beautiful.

Pink ginger with ti (cordyline) plant.

A very tall unfurling frond of a Mulefoot fern.

And last, an introduced pest, the mongoose. Introduced to kill rats, but instead eats native birds.

Our last four days here are at Waikiki where Tom is attending a conference. Pretty setting along the ocean, but it reminds me of Las Vegas with a beach! No gambling just a lot of schmancy shopping, with all of the big name fashion retailers, etc. and thousands of people walking the sidewalks window-shopping and the real thing, all day and into the evening.